(Newser)
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It may have been nothing more than puppy love, but the mayor of a small Texas town has been driven out of office after it was discovered she secretly kept the neighbor's dog she claimed had died, reports the BBC. The Shih Tzu named Puddles was later spotted at a dog groomer's. The dogsitting mayor also reported to police that the pooch, whom she had renamed Panchito, was missing.

She was hit last month with two felony charges of tampering or fabricating evidence. She quit after the city council of the town of Alice called for her resignation. "I can tell you that I did at the time what I thought was best for Panchito and what I felt was right in my heart," she wrote in a letter to the local paper. A dog custody hearing is pending.